Not your average big man: Dirk Nowitzki's journey from nocturnal shooter to verge of his 20th season

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Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki cheers a dunk by forward Dwight Powell during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Orlando Magic at American Airlines Center on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)

Editor's note: This story was originally published on March 4, 2017, as Nowitzki approached the 30,000-point mark for his career.

When he used to be nothing more than a season-ticket holder with expensive seats at Reunion Arena, Mark Cuban thought the same thing you did if you were one of those unfortunate Maverick fans of the late '90s.

He saw Don Nelson get a young German kid with bad hair named Dirk Nowitzki in a Dallas uniform and assumed the worst.

"I didn't watch that closely," Cuban said of Nowitzki's rookie season. "I went (to games) to have fun and drink beer and take dates. Honestly, before I bought the team and started paying attention, I thought he was just another big white guy from Europe that Nellie brought in.

"Then you started watching and realized he was something special."

Geez, you think?

18 years after his debut, Dirk Nowitzki remembers his first game (and how poorly he played) like it was yesterday

Nelson grew accustomed in those early Dirk days to hearing that he'd brought in another "big white stiff" like Chris Anstey or Bruno Sundov.

"Yeah, I kind of got that a lot early on," Nelson said with a laugh. "But that's OK. Sometimes it takes a little time."

Time for 30,000 points and 19 seasons to go by. Three coaches, one championship and hundreds of teammates. Add it up and Nowitzki has etched his name among the very best basketball players ever to grace this planet. Sometime in the next few games, Nowitzki will pass the 30K barrier - and every single one of those points has been scored while wearing a Mavericks' uniform.

He will be the seventh NBA player to reach the milestone, following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving, who scored a large chunk of his 30K in the ABA.

Only Malone and Bryant scored 30,000 with one team.

Maverick fans have been privileged to watch him for 19 seasons. And it will be 20 when he calls it a career after the 2017-18 season, which he plans to play to put an exclamation point on his career.

And what a career it has been.

Before he was 'Dirk'

Nowitzki wasn't always the face of the franchise. There was a time when he couldn't even get on the court.

The practice court.

In his first season, the team still worked out a lot at the Landry Center that was part of the Baylor Hospital campus. It was one of the few places that Nowitzki and new friends Michael Finley and Steve Nash would go in the evening to get extra shooting done.

And they had to wait in line. This was during a rough rookie season that began late after the NBA's lockout that lasted until January.

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ORG XMIT: S0354662605_STAFF (shot 05/01/2001) DIGITAL IMAGE -- DALLAS MAVERICKS VS. UTAH JAZZ NBA PLAYOFFS -- Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki is all smiles as he sits on the bench with teammates Steve Nash, left, and Michael Finley, right, in the final minute of game four against the Jazz. 1030xSPORTS

"We had 50 games in what felt like 40 days," Nowitzki said. "There were some games when Nellie didn't play me at all. And there was some doubt creeping in obviously in every competitor.

"I kept working with Steve and Mike after practice. There were some night runs (games played on the court by club members) at Landry Center when we'd shoot on the baseline while the run was going on and when the run had a little break, we were able to get like five minutes in on the main court. And then we'd get bumped off again. It was a different time back then. But I'm glad we did it."

Window into greatness: Witness the routine Dirk Nowitzki has followed 'like clockwork' throughout his Mavericks career

Can you imagine NBA players in this day and age waiting for a pick-up game to finish before taking their time on the practice floor?

Those nighttime shooting sessions would evolve into a tradition for Nowitzki. By the time he was a consistent All-Star and one of the NBA's most dangerous scorers, he had put in thousands of hours after dark in gyms across the country.

Some of them were with Holger Geschwindner, his mentor since he was 16. And some were with teammates.

Others were with whomever he could find to shag rebounds and feed him countless passes. It was all part of the path to greatness.

The Loon

People may not realize what an important role a sadly defunct bar and grill played in Nowitzki's formative years.

After shooting sessions at the Landry Center or after games at Reunion, Nowitzki and Nash would look for some place to, as they say in this day and age, recover.

That's when you give the body a little time to rest after a hard workout.

Nowitzki did that at a place on Lemmon Ave. called the Loon. It was a legendary spot in its prime before closing a few years back.

"We had some good Loon nights," Nowitzki said. "Back in the days we didn't have all the catering after the games or even food after practice. We had to go to Chipotle after practice every other day. And after games, everything was closed so we'd hit the Loon for a chicken sandwich or a burger and a beer for recovery.

"You can get away with a lot of things when you're young."

These days recovery is pasta, protein and maybe a salad -- all consumed without any malted barley.

Things have changed.

/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) gives the Oklahoma City Thunder crowd a thumbs up after the Mavs lost game 5 of their series 118-104 in the first round of NBA playoffs on Monday, April 25, 2016 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)

'Nobody thought we'd have a guy who could end up with 30,000'

"My first thought is: Wow."

That's what Nelson had to say when asked about Nowitzki's journey to 30,000. Nelson was his first NBA coach and the perfect fit for a 7-footer whose game was better suited for jump shots than slam-dunks.

Nelson never really knew what he was getting when he was in Wurzburg, Germany, convincing the spindly built Nowitzki to put his name in the 1998 NBA draft. But he did know talent when he saw it. And he saw plenty in Nowitzki.

"When we brought Dirk in, I thought we were getting a guy who could be an All-Star and maybe a franchise-kind of player," Nelson said. "Then after a while I thought we might have a special player.

We know Dirk the Mav; now meet Dirk the Dad

"But nobody in the world thought we'd have a guy who could end up with 30,000 points. Nobody."

Nowitzki has been loyal to the Mavericks and Dallas, but as Cuban says, "when you pay somebody $200 million, they tend to be loyal."

Actually, for Nowitzki's career, his total NBA earnings are at $245 million and counting. He'll tack on another $25 million next season when he plays his 20th and, likely, final season.

"Obviously, you have to stay around for a long time if you want to reach that (30,000), even though LeBron (James) is about to achieve it next year probably, which is incredible," Nowitzki said. "But us normal guys, we have to be around for a long, long time."

Normal guy. That's a pretty good way to describe Nowitzki. He doesn't like to be treated like a superstar or a celebrity. He pokes fun at himself. And he loves his family.

That he'll go down as one of the top 20 basketball players in history is simply a bonus.

"He didn't have the athletic ability of a lot of players, but he had a skill level that very few other players had," Nelson said. "And the work ethic was absolutely incredible. He never stopped working."